Sidewalk, floor, or roadway construction



Sept. 26, 1939. A. HENDERSON 2,174,035

SIDEWALK, FLOOR OR ROADWAY CONSTRUCTION FiledJuly 1, 193e i; 17 lINVENT-OR I l ma@ MIME the winter.

Patented Sept. 26, 1939 UNITED STATES smEWALK, FLOOR, on. ROADWAYCONSTRUCTION Albert Henderson, Edgewood, Pa., -assignor to William P.Witherow, Pittsburgh, Pa.

Application July-1, 1936, Serial No. 88,372

2 Claims.

This invention relates to a sidewalk, floor or roadway construction and,in particular, to a construction of this class capable of beingassembled in the field from standard, preformed units of a single type.The invention will be described as applied to the construction ofsidewalks, although other applications thereof will be obvious.

Sidewalks and other similar out-door paved surfaces as now installed bypouring in monolithic masses, are subject to settling and crackingresulting from the action of frost on faulty foundations. This causespuddles to form on the surface in wet weather, and icy patches duringEven where such surface does not crack, irregularities in the surfaceare bound to occur during the smoothing or finishing thereof, and suchirregularities collect and hold rain water. Another frequent cause ofcracking of monolithic pavement is the spreading of tree rootsthereunder.

I have invented a form of paving particularly adapted for out-doorinstallations whereby the aforementioned objections to the presentpractice are overcome. In accordance with my invention, I employpreformed units of substantially channel shape in section, and from thembuild up the foundations and surface of a pavement. The foundations areformed by disposing two of the units with their channeled sides face toface, and these foundations are disposed on a bed of crushed rock.Similar units are disposed side by side to span the `distance betweenadjacent foundations, with their channeled sides down, thus forming thesurface of the pavement. The units have drainage perforations, and maybe made of any suitable material. While I prefer to make them ofreinforced concrete, other materials may be employed as well. In case ofsettling of the foundations, the upper of the two units comprising themmay be raised and blocked up on the lower.

For a complete understanding of the invention, reference should be madeto the accompanying drawing illustrating a present preferred embodiment.In the drawing,

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a pavement in accordance with myinvention;

Fig. 2 is a partial transverse section therethrough;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line III-III of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a similar section showing the upper unit of one foundationblocked up on the lower one to compensate for settling; and

Fig. 5 is a the units. Y p

Referring now in detail to the drawing', a sidewalk, roadway or otherpavement of likenature, is indicated at It) and comprises a surface IIresting on spaced foundations I2. The surface and foundations are bothcomposed of a plurality of similar units I3 arranged as best indicatedin Fig. 1. As shown, these units are of channel shape in section lor maybe considered as flanged slabs. I prefer to form them of reinforcedconcrete, although I may use other materials instead. The units arepreferably preformed, as in a plant suitable for their manufacture, andare transported to the job, and there assembled in the manner indicated.

In constructing a pavement in accordance with the invention, it is best,first, to excavate trenches for receiving the foundations I2, as shownin Figs. 3 and 4, preferably after laying therein beds of broken stoneI4. Each foundation I2 comprises a pair of units I3 laid flat with theiranges in abutment.

When the foundations have been placed, the surface II may be laid bydepositing units i3 with anges down, spanning the distance betweenadjacent foundations. The units formpartial perspective View of one ofing the surface of the pavement are placed side by side, and may bebolted together as shown in Fig. 2, or may be merely laid on thefoundations with mortar therebetween, if desired, although this is notnecessary. By the aid of my construction, it is relatively simple to laya pavement which is perfectly level. It will be apparent that the backsof the channel-shaped units I3 will approach a true plane much morenearly than the surface of a monolithic block cast in place. Even if thepavement should become unlevel after installation, because of settlingor for other reasons, it is a simple matter to block up the upper unitof any foundation which may have settled, as indicated at Fig. 4. 'Iheupper unit is jacked up, using the lower as a footing for the jack.After jacking up the upper unit, it may be blocked up in any convenientmanner, as by laying bricks I5 in a mortar bed between the unitsadjacent one end of the foundation as shown in Fig. 2.

The preformed units are provided with drainage holes I6 intermediatetheir edges and grooves Il along their edges. Cooperating grooves ofabutting units form additional drainage holes. Thorough drainage of boththe surface and foundation of the pavement is assured, preventingcollection of any substantial amount of water on either. The channelshape of the units leaves considerable space below the surface of thepavement and below the upper unit of the foundations for the collectionof any water passing through the drainage holes.

The units are preferably made one foot Wide, as most sidewalks are madean even number of feet in width. The units may be made of any length andofthe units chosen for the foundation will, obviously, depend on thedesired width of the pavement. It is not necessary, furthermore, thatthe length of the foundation units precisely equal the width of thepaved surface, as indicated in Fig. 1.

To aid further in draining the pavement surface and foundations, I mayform the units of porous concrete.

Numerous advantages of the invention will be immediately apparent. Inthe first place, settling of the pavement does not involve cracking orbreaking of units, but merely opening up of the joints therebetween.This can readily be cured, furthermore, by jacking up the upperfoundation member and blocking i-t up on the lower one. Since thesurface and foundations are well drained, there is no collection of rainwater or formation of icy patches in winter. By forming the units at acentral point, the only eld operations necessary are excavation andassembling, contributing greatly to an economic construction. A furtheradvantage is that the units may be salvaged one hundred per cent, if itis desired to change the location of the installation. The use of thesame type of units for foundations and surface introduces a furtherreduction in cost.

Although I have illustrated and described herein but a preferredembodiment of the invention, it will be understood that changes thereinmay be made without departing from the spirit of the invention or thescope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A foundation for pavement slabs comprising identical topand bottomchannel-shaped members, the bottom member being disposed with itschanneled side up and said top member being disposed with its channeledside down and with its edges lying along those of said bottom member,the foundation being disposed transversely beneath pavement slabsresting on the top member, and means disposed in the hollow spacebetween said members to space them slightly apart and level saidpavement slabs.

.2. A pavement construction comprising a tread slab, there beingopenings for draining the top of the slab, and spaced foundations onwhich said slab is supported, each of said foundations having anopen-ended hollow space therein and having perforations extendingthrough the walls thereof, said hollow space being adapted to serve as awell to collect drainage from said slab and hold it temporarily until itseeps into the surrounding earth.

ALBERT HENDERSON.

CERTIFICATE OE CORRECTION.

Patent No.v 2,17LL,O5 5. september 26, 1959.

ALBERT HENDERSON. A

.It is hereby certified that error appears in'the above rmmberedy patentrequiring correction as follows: In the grant, linel, name of assignee,fOINil-liam P. withrow'Vread william P. Witherowgas shown by the Vrecord'of assignments in this' office; .page 2, first Column, lline 9,y after.the word "and" insert the words v I be read with this Cclzrrc-ictiontherein that the same may' conform to the reC- ord of the oase in thePatent Office.

Signed and .sealed this 2LLth day of October, A. D. 1959.`

Henry Ven Arsdale,

(ssii)I Acting Commissioner 'of Patents.

the length; and that the said Letters Patent should i

